Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople walk past the Stone of Unction during an ecumenical celebration in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem last May. Reports indicate the two may meet again in November in Turkey.(photo: CNS/Paul Haring)

UN: Ukraine death toll rises above 3,000(The Guardian) The number of people confirmed killed in the Ukraine conflict has risen above 3,000 if the victims of the MH17 plane crash are included, a senior UN human rights official said on Monday. Ivan Simonovic, the UN assistant secretary general for human rights, said the number of people confirmed killed in fighting since the conflict erupted in April was now 2,729 but rose to over 3,000 if the 298 passengers and crew on the Malaysia Airlines flight were included, which he said they should be, though the true figure could be much higher. “This number includes killings registered based on available resources and ... the actual number may be significantly higher,” he told an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)...

Iraq approves new government(The Washington Post) Under huge international and domestic pressure, Iraq swore in a new government on Monday, opening the way for an expansion of U.S. military support to fight Islamist extremists in the country. The vote to approve a new cabinet came during a fiery late-night parliamentary session. Key positions, including those of the defense and security chiefs, were left open amid controversy over who would fill them. Now confirmed as prime minister, Haider al-Abadi said he would name candidates for those positions within a week...

Pope sends condolences to family of Steven Sotloff(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has expressed his sorrow for the death of slain US journalist Steven Sotloff, urging people everywhere to reject violence, aggression and lack of compassion. His words came in a telegram of condolences addressed to Sotloff’s family and signed by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin on behalf of the Pope...

Report: Pope may visit Turkey this year(Catholic News Agency) Pope Francis may visit Turkey 29-30 November, strengthening the links with the Orthodox Church’s Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and advancing their common commitment to ecumenism, peace and ecology. The possible papal voyage to Turkey was discussed by Nikos Tzoitis, an expert in ecumenical dialogue who had served as spokesperson of Patriarch Bartholomew, to whom he is very close...

Firefights break out in Ukraine(Washington Post) Ukraine struggled to maintain a tenuous cease-fire with pro-Russian rebels after a series of repeated breaches Sunday, even as the government here faced the equally daunting task of selling the peace plan to the nation. Firefights broke out near the rebel-held city of Donetsk as well as east of the key port city of Mariupol, eyewitnesses said. Yet Ukrainian officials maintained that in general, the truce, which went into effect Friday evening, was holding...

Pope appeals for peace in Ukraine(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has expressed the hope that Ukraine’s current ceasefire can promote efforts to achieve a lasting peace in the east of the country. He also condemned recent violence in the African nation of Lesotho and appealed for a return of peace. His twin appeals came after his Angelus address on Sunday in the Vatican before crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square. Afterwards he praised Italian Red Cross volunteers leaving for Iraqi Kurdistan for their generous support on behalf of all those persecuted in Iraq...

President Obama to announce strategy against ISIS(The Guardian) Barack Obama will announce a new U.S. “game plan” for an offensive against Islamic State (ISIS) this week, the U.S. president said on Sunday as efforts to build an international coalition against the extremists made progress. The U.S. president — who had been derided for saying last month he did not have a strategy to contend with ISIS — said he would seek congressional support on Tuesday and then “describe what our game plan’s going to be” in a speech on Wednesday...

Palestinian unity teeters over fight with Israel(USA Today) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas threatened to dissolve his party’s unity government with Hamas as tensions between the two mount over this summer’s fighting with Israel in Gaza. “We will not accept having a partnership if their status in Gaza remains this way,” Abbas said late Saturday in Cairo, according to Egypt’s state news agency MENA. As long as Hamas remains in control of Gaza, Abbas said, “the government of national unity can do nothing on the ground.” Hamas, which entered into a cease-fire agreement with Israel late last month after 50 days of warfare, denounced Abbas’ actions, the Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported...

Turkey opens its doors to Yazidis(Daily Sabah) The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), which is an offshoot of al-Qaida, has been slaughtering the ancient Yazidi community in Iraq, causing another humanitarian crisis in the country. While some Yazidi villages near the Iraqi town of Sinjar have been vacated, some Yazidis fled to the Kurdish region and others went to Turkey. Turkey has been the main country that has opened its doors to Yazidis. Approximately 10,000 Yazidis crossed the border into Turkey. While many of them were accommodated in Turkish Yazidi villages, others who have no relatives in Turkey were placed in a refugee camp...

In the video above, a representative for the U.S. bishops underscores the need for a nonviolent resolution in Ukraine. (video: from CNS)

Cease-fire signed to halt fighting in Ukraine(BBC) The Ukrainian government and pro-Russia rebels have signed a truce deal to end almost five months of fighting. The two sides, meeting in the Belarusian capital Minsk, agreed to stop firing at 15:00 GMT. President Petro Poroshenko said he would do "everything possible" to end the bloodshed. The rebels said the truce had not changed their policy of advocating separation from Ukraine...

Ukrainian Catholic leader: West must help stop Russian inteference(CNS) A Ukrainian church leader said Western governments need to use “all available means” to curb Russian military interference. “Every right-thinking European should realize that what’s happening here has worldwide implications,” said Bishop Bohdan Dzyurakh, secretary-general of the Ukrainian Catholic Synod of Bishops. “Besides raping all international law, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is also showing the kind of security the world can expect from a nuclear-armed Russia. He will go as far as he’s allowed to go...”

An estimated 400,000 children need psychological care in Gaza(Fides) In Gaza, 400,000 children and young adults need psychological care to alleviate the effects of the last three conflicts which affected the people of Gaza in the past six years. This is affirmed by Caritas Jerusalem, quoting United Nations sources, in the latest report on its activity. “Boys and girls” — we read in the dossier — “represent the part of the population which suffers most the consequences of armed conflict. The majority experience the separation of families and develop a pessimistic vision of life...”

Mass grave uncovered in Iraq(Associated Press) A series of attacks across Iraq on Friday killed 17 people, including four Shiite militiamen and a Sunni tribal chief, while a mass grave in the north was found to contain the bodies of 15 Shiite truck drivers killed by Sunni militants. Police officials said the deadliest attack happened when a car bomb went off on a commercial street in Baghdad’s mainly Shiite Zafaraniyah district, killing seven people and wounding 15 others. Several shops were damaged...

Flooded refugee camp in Ethiopia to close(Associated Press) Doctors Without Borders says a camp in Ethiopia hosting 40,000 refugees from South Sudan is flooded from heavy rains and that it must be abandoned. The medical charity said in a statement Friday that the Lietchuor refugee camp in Ethiopia’s Gambella region resembles “a lake dotted with islands.” It said newly constructed mud huts for the refugees are completely flooded and that most patients seen in the camp are suffering from malaria and respiratory infections...

Pope Francis welcomes former Israeli President Shimon Peres during their meeting at the Vatican on 4 September. The former president asked Pope Francis to head a parallel United Nations called the “United Religions” to counter religious extremism.(photo: CNS/L’Osservatore Romano via EPA)

Shimon Peres: Pope should lead a “United Religions” body to counter extremism(CNS) Former Israeli President Shimon Peres asked Pope Francis to head a parallel United Nations called the “United Religions” to counter religious extremism in the world today. “In the past, most wars were motivated by the idea of nationhood. Today, however, wars are incited above all using religion as an excuse,” Peres told the Catholic magazine, Famiglia Cristiana, ahead of a papal meeting on 4 September. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, confirmed that Peres, who ended his presidential term in July, had requested the meeting and told the Pope about his idea. The Pope, however, did not commit himself to the proposal...

Christians in Syria collect aid for Yazidis(Fides) It lasted only 72 hours, but was of great symbolic value: a popular campaign by Christians to collect food, drugs and clothing in the Syrian city of Qamishli to help Yazidi people who fled Iraq and found refuge in Syrian territory close to a refugee camp in Newroz...

Iraqi Christian woman describes kidnapping of her child by militants(CNS) An Iraqi Christian woman has described how her 3-year-old daughter was abducted by Islamist terrorists. Christina Khider Abada was seated beside her mother, Ayda Abada, on a bus when captors from the Islamic State snatched her and took her away. According to an account by the mother, who followed her daughter off the bus, the crying child was passed from one militant to another while Ayda Abada begged for her to be returned. Finally, the terrorists pointed guns in the face of the mother and told her to get back on the bus or they would kill her. Fellow refugee Sahar Mansour interviewed Ayda Abada and her husband, Khider Abada, as they circulated pictures of their daughter in Ain Kawa refugee camp, near Erbil, Iraq, in the hope of gaining information about the toddler’s whereabouts...

Russia warns Ukraine against joining NATO(Washington Post) The Kremlin on Thursday underscored Russia’s opposition to NATO membership for Ukraine, warning that such a move could derail efforts to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine, as leaders of the alliance gathered for a key summit in Wales. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also told the United States not to try to impose its own will on Kiev...

Chaldean patriarch blasts Iraqi government(ByzCath.org) The head of the Chaldean Catholic Church has renewed his criticism of the Iraqi government and the international community for their failure to address the persecution of Iraq’s Christians. “The curtains have been drawn on the painful events, and 120,000 Christians are uprooted from their historical homeland because the political Islam does not want them there, and the world is silent, standing still, either because it approves or because it is incapable of acting,” said Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako. “The suffering of the displaced Christians and other minorities is mounting: their needs are escalating and their fears of an unknown future of their shocked children, seized towns, and looted houses keep them sleepless,” he added...

In this image taken last month, a Dutch Royal Air Force transport aircraft at Eindhoven Airbase in Eindhoven, Netherlands, is being loaded with relief supplies for victims of the humanitarian disaster in Iraq. (photo: CNS/Bas Czerwinski, EPA)

Pope expresses support for persecuted Iraqis(Vatican Radio) At the General Audience Wednesday, Pope Francis told Arabic speaking pilgrims and “particularly those from Iraq,” that “like all mothers,” the Church accompanies her needy children. She “raises up the fallen child, heals his wounds, seeks the lost... and defends those who are defenseless and persecuted...”

Putin urges Ukraine to withdraw troops(CBS News) Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Russian-backed insurgents in eastern Ukraine to “stop advancing” Wednesday and urged the Ukrainian army to withdraw their troops from the region. A day ahead of a NATO summit, Ukraine issued a vague statement about agreeing with Putin on cease-fire steps for eastern Ukraine. The separatists rejected the move, saying no cease-fire was possible without Ukraine withdrawing its forces, while Putin’s spokesman claimed that Moscow was not in a position to agree to a cease-fire because it is not party to the conflict...

Is Russian church risking schism over Ukraine?(The Moscow Times) The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is the biggest of Ukraine’s Orthodox churches, and the only one recognized by other Orthodox churches worldwide. Backing the Kremlin on Ukraine could prompt an exodus of the flock from the Moscow-controlled church to the other branches, [Maxim] Goryunov said. Most Ukrainians support official Kiev’s stance on the rebellion, and so do independent churches. “It’s all about Ukraine,” Goryunov said. “If Patriarch [Kirill] starts to act gung-ho, everyone there will desert him...”

Israel claims nearly 1,000 acres near Bethlehem(The New York Times) Israel laid claim on Sunday to nearly 1,000 acres of West Bank land in a Jewish settlement bloc near Bethlehem — a step that could herald significant Israeli construction in the area — defying Palestinian demands for a halt in settlement expansion. Peace Now, an Israeli group that opposes the construction of settlements in the West Bank, said that the action on Sunday might be the largest single appropriation of West Bank land in decades and that it could “dramatically change the reality” in the area...

Gaza reconstruction after war could take 20 years(CBC) An international organization involved in assessing post-conflict reconstruction says it will take 20 years for Gaza’s battered and neglected housing stock to be rebuilt following the war between Hamas and Israel. The assessment by Shelter Cluster, co-chaired by the UN refugee agency and the Red Cross, underscores the complexities involved in an overall reconstruction program for the Gaza Strip, which some Palestinian officials have estimated could cost in excess of $6 billion...

Ancient rock churches putting Ethiopia on tourist map(The Guardian) Kiya Gezahegne joined an unruly, jostling throng surrounding a priest who wielded a 12th-century gold and bronze cross, one of the most sacred artefacts in Ethiopia. A young man shut his eyes and trembled from head to toe as he was blessed. Finally, Gezahegne stepped forward and stooped so the priest could tap the cross all over her body. “I felt close to God,” she said. Steeped in ancient ritual, this was the scene revealed by dawn’s first light in the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela. The cool morning air was filled with the smell of incense and the drumbeat and chanting of hundreds of pilgrims swathed in white robes, some kissing the walls. A sprinkling of foreign visitors groped through narrow crevices and labyrinthine tunnels. Earlier this year they included George W Bush and family and Evgeny Lebedev, the newspaper proprietor...

Report: Russian troops strengthening positions in Ukraine(Reuters) Russian troops are strengthening their positions in eastern Ukraine and using aid shipments to smuggle in arms and other supplies to separatist forces, Kiev’s military said on Tuesday. Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said units of Russian troops had been identified in the big regional centre of Donetsk, towns and villages to its east and in south-east areas near the Sea of Azov. Fifteen more Ukrainian servicemen were killed in fighting in the past 24 hours, Lysenko said...

Vatican: world community must stop unjust aggression in Iraq(Vatican Radio) Archbishop Silvano Tomasi is calling on the international community to take concrete steps to stop the ongoing violence and persecution of minorities in northern Iraq, to reestablish a just peace and to protect all vulnerable groups of society...

Pope Francis calls priest at Iraqi refugee camp(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis called a priest at a refugee camp in Iraq to express his closeness to the persecuted Christians who have taken refuge there and to promise his continued support. Pope Francis reportedly called Fr. Behnam Benoka on 19 August, a day after returning from his apostolic journey to South Korea. Fr Benoka is a priest of Bartella, a small Christian town near Mosul, and the vice-rector of the Catholic seminary in Ain Kawa...

Poll shows increased support for Hamas(ABC News) The popularity of the Hamas militant group among Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip has spiked significantly following the 50-day war with Israel, according to an opinion poll released Tuesday. The poll, conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research and headed by leading Palestinian pollster Khalil Shikaki, indicates that 61 percent of Palestinians would choose the Islamic militant group’s leader, Ismail Haniyeh, for president if Palestinian presidential elections were held today. Only 32 percent would vote for current President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas’ rival, the survey suggested...

Thousands attend interreligious match for peace(Vatican Radio) Thousands of sports fans, young and old, came out to Rome’s Olympic Stadium Monday night to watch football greats Roberto Baggio, Javier Zanetti and Diego Armando Maradona, among others, take part in the Interreligious Match for Peace. Players representing the Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim and Shinto religions took to the field for the 8:45 p.m. kickoff. The event was intended to gather players and fans in a moment of unity and solidarity in support of world peace and to demonstrate the power of sport in building peace...

Could alcohol probhibition work in Kerala?(Times of India) Trouble is brewing in Kerala, where the government is about to call last orders on almost all alcohol. In an Indian state that crams 35 million people and almost a million annual visitors into an area not even twice the size of Wales, planned prohibition represents a social revolution that is comparable in scale to the doomed policy that America pursued during the 1920’s...

A woman holds a baby at a temporary tent camp set up for Ukrainian refugees near the Russian-Ukrainian border. (photo: CNS/Alexander Demianchuk)

NATO accuses Russia of violating Ukraine’s sovereignty(BBC) NATO has accused Russia of a "blatant violation" of Ukraine’s sovereignty and engaging in direct military operations to support pro-Russian rebels. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that “despite hollow denials”, it was now clear that Russia had illegally crossed Ukraine’s border. He said Nato would respect any Ukrainian decision on security, after its PM said he was putting the country on course for Nato membership. Russia denies sending troops and arms...

Mideast Church leaders denounce ISIS for “crimes against humanity”(Vatican Radio) The Patriarchs and Church leaders of Eastern rite churches have again denounced what they call “crimes against humanity” committed by Islamic State (formerly ISIS) militants in Iraq and Syria. Meeting outside Beirut, Lebanon, the Patriarchs condemned the persecution and killings of Christians, Yazidis and other minorities, saying the continued existence of Christians in the region is being threatened by the jihadi group’s campaign of terror. Thanking those who’ve been offering humanitarian assistance to the displaced, the Patriarchs are calling on the international community to stop the “criminal actions” of Islamic State and are challenging Islamic institutions to forcefully condemn the extremist group...

Cardinal: action needed to defend minorities in Iraq(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday met with Cardinal Antonio Maria Vegliò, the President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants, to discuss the plight of those fleeing the Islamist violence in Iraq. The so-called Islamic State controls large areas of both Syria and Iraq, and has been conducting a campaign of terror, especially against religious minorities, including Christians. Cardinal Vegliò told Vatican Radio the Pope said the Church must be in the forefront in efforts to defend the weak...

Major religions concentrated in just one or two countries(Pew Research Center) For several years, demographers at the Pew Research Center have been studying the demographic characteristics of eight groups: Buddhists, Christians, adherents of folk religions, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, the religiously unaffiliated and followers of other religions. While Christians and Muslims are more widely distributed around the world, the other groups have a majority of their populations in just one or two nations, according to 2010 estimates from our Global Religious Landscape report...

Russians invading, says Ukraine leader; tanks reported crossing border(Los Angeles Times) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called a snap meeting of his security council Thursday, declaring that Russian forces had invaded the country. Mr. Poroshenko dropped plans to attend the inauguration of Turkey’s newly elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and summoned the council as pro-Russia separatists tightened their grip on the town of Novoazovsk in southern Ukraine, opening a new front in the months-long battle with Ukrainian government troops…

Syria’s brutal war threatens international peace and security(U.N. News Center) Mass atrocities by government forces and armed groups continue to take place in Syria, causing immeasurable suffering to civilians and contributing to a spillover of violence affecting international peace and stability, a United Nations-appointed panel said today. The Commission’s latest report, based on 480 interviews and a wealth of documentary material, chronicles the human cost of the Syrian conflict that began in March 2011. The impact has been particularly grave for women and children, whose most basic rights are being violated every day…

Patriarchs meet ambassadors in Bkerke to save beleaguered Christians(AsiaNews) Patriarchs of the Eastern churches and ambassadors from diverse nations met at the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerke, Lebanon. The summit is part of efforts by church leaders to preserve the role of Christians in Iraq, where the Islamic State is crushing minorities forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee…

The Iraqi army is only able to reach Amirli by air, as the Islamic State controls the territory below. (video: Al Jazeera)

Iraqi Christians weigh taking up arms against the Islamic State(National Geographic) Of all the many ancient peoples who once lived in the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates, Iraq’s Assyrian Christians pride themselves on having persisted in their traditional homeland for millennia, even as other civilizations thrived then disappeared, as languages and cultures died out, as ethnic groups melted into the ways and genetic pools of their conquerors. But today Iraq’s Assyrians, and its Christians in general, fear that their place in this multiethnic, multisectarian mosaic society is shrinking, under severe threat from the ultraconservative Islamist group the Islamic State…

Cease-fire between Israel and Hamas holding(Washington Post) An open-ended cease-fire between Hamas and Israel was holding Wednesday after seven weeks of warfare that killed more than 2,200 people. The Israeli military said early Wednesday that there had been no reports of violations since the cease-fire with Gaza went into effect Tuesday evening. The army later said it responded to fire from across the border with Syria after an officer was injured earlier in the day…

Syrian refugees in Gaza suffer second war(Al Monitor) The Gaza Strip was a haven for Palestinian refugees in Syria and for some Syrians — with around 1,000 refugees, including 260 families, 20 of whom are of Syrian origin — until the war made it an undesirable destination. Atef al Amawi, a Palestinian refugee from the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, arrived in Gaza about two years ago with his family of ten, including his wife, three daughters, son and grandson. The family settled in two rented apartments in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. In an apartment that does not exceed 100 square meters (1,076 square feet), two other families of more than 18 members live with the Amawi family. Some of them left days ago for Syria due to the intensified bombing and poor living conditions…

Despite persecution Odisha Christians rooted in faith(Vatican Radio) As Christians in India’s eastern state of Odisha on Monday marked the 6th anniversary of the 2008 anti-Christian violence centered in Kandhamal District, a top Catholic leader of the state asserted that faith in the crucified Christ has never abandoned them. “Our people live in truth and love, and despite our suffering, vocations to the religious life have increased. Six years have passed from the terror carried out by Hindu extremists but the witness offered by the victims remain steadfast, and this has produced fertile seeds,” said Archbishop John Barwa Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar…

Kerala church gives bishops right to allow cremation of dead(The Indian Express) The Synod of Kerala-based Syro-Malabar Catholic Church has decided that from now on bishops of various dioceses can permit cremation of the dead, instead of the traditional burial. Although the church had allowed cremation under extraordinary situations, the right to permit that practice was till vested with the major archbishop, the head of the Syro-Malabar Church…

A Palestinian woman inspects her damaged house in Gaza City on 11 August. A senior Catholic aid official said humanitarians are “trying to pick of the pieces” of Gaza’s badly destroyed infrastructure, hoping that the truce between Israel and the militant Hamas will hold. (photo: CNS/Mohammed Saber, EPA)

Gaza conflict: Hamas says long-term truce agreed with Israel(BBC) Egypt has brokered an agreement on a long-term ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, senior Palestinian officials have said. Hamas negotiator Moussa Abu Marzouk said the deal to end seven weeks of fighting that has left more than 2,200 people dead would be announced shortly. The Palestinians said Israel had agreed to ease its blockade of Gaza to allow in aid supplies and building materials. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli government. The apparent breakthrough came as both sides continued to trade fire…

Forgotten in Iraq: Besieged city faces destruction by Islamic State(Der Spiegel) The world took notice when the Yazidis needed help. But since June, a Turkmen city in northern Iraq has been under siege by the Islamic State. The death toll continues to mount but, thus far, the people of Amirli have been left to fight the IS on their own…

Strikes by Ukrainian military destroy second Orthodox church in Donbass(ITAR-TASS) Shells fired by Ukrainian troops have destroyed a second Orthodox church in the war-torn Donetsk region, said Georgy Guliyev, press secretary of the Donetsk Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate. “There was a square hit at the church in the name of St John of Kronstadt, which is located in the western suburbs of Donetsk,” he said, adding that the subsequent fire caused further damage…

Egypt deports Palestinian Syrians back to conflict zones(Al Monitor) Palestinian-Syrian refugees in Egypt are being forced to choose between deportation to Gaza or Syria as human rights groups denounce the practice. Deportations by the Egyptian authorities can often go quietly, undocumented and unreported. As a result, there are no definitive figures available on how many Palestinians from Syria have been deported by Egypt since the Syrian conflict began…